The Mechanics of Video Poker Play

The following is taken from Power Video Poker, the Only Video Poker Book You'll Ever Need!

All video poker machines are based on the principles of five-card draw poker.  You will begin each game by inserting money or credit slips into the machine.  You then will have a choice of playing from one to five coins or credit.  The number of coins or credits you play depend on the Betting Strategy you use.  You will need to decide on your Betting Strategy first which will determine the number of coins you insert per play .

Once you insert your coins or play your credits five cards will show on the screen.  These are your cards.  You may keep one, some all or none of the cards.  It is your decision.  Your Playing Strategy will help you make your decision here.

To keep a card, press the button marked “HOLD” underneath the card you want to keep.  There will be five hold buttons, one for each card.  You must press the hold button for each card you want to keep.

“HELD” will appear under each card that you chose to keep.  The other cards (the ones you want to discard) will not be kept by the machine.

What happens if you press the wrong hold button by accident or change your mind?  To change your decision, all you have to do is press the corresponding button again.  It acts likes an on-off button so that it is easy to change back and forth from hold to discard.  Until you press the draw button you can continue to change your playing decision.

You may also decide to keep all five our your original cards.  To do so you will push the hold button under each card.  You may also discard all of the original cards by pressing the Draw/Deal button without pressing any of the hold buttons.

Once you have made your playing decision and decided which cards to hold press the Draw/Deal button to received your new cards.  This set of cards is your final hand.

If your hand is a winner, the machine will usually flash “WINNER” at the bottom of the screen.  Winning hands are automatically paid according to the payoff schedule on the screen.

There is a useful feature on all video poker machines that allows you to play with your winnings by using a credit function built into the machine.  For example, let’s say you just hit a win for twenty coins.  Two things will occur.

First, you will see a “Credit- 20” appear on the machine.  To continue playing without cashing out and reinserting coins, you can now press another button to play off your credits.

Secondly, after your 20-coin win a button called Cash Out or Payout will light up.  If you press than button, the machine will give immediate payment of the winnings shown in the credit section.

The Cash Out function can be used after any hand is completed to cash out your winnings.